The 2020 legislative session ends. But a special session is ahead.

It was a big week of executive action for DFL Gov. Tim Walz, who announced his extension of emergency powers – though he has allowed the Stay at Home Order to expire – and then appointed a new state supreme court justice. But the legislative session ended with a whimper, without a bonding bill for state construction projects, which was the main goal for lawmakers and the governor. The House and Senate each failed to muster the supermajorities necessary to pass the bills that ranged from almost $1 billion in the Republican-controlled Senate to more than $2 billion in the DFL-controlled House. A special session should begin on June 12th.

Republican House Minority Leader Kurt Daudt had said that his caucus wouldn’t provide the supermajority votes if the governor extended his emergency powers. In the final hours of the session he said, “We’re working to get a bonding bill done, if not in a special session, as soon as we can.”

Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka concluded that the global pandemic has made this the most unusual session in state history: “Everything is different here. In my lifetime, we’ve never been near this length of emergency powers, if ever.”

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